Best Thing I Never Had
by klcm
Summary: Garcia thinks it's too late to realise that she is love in Morgan...
1. Best Thing I Never Had

**Desclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_So new idea here guys... Based on Beyoncés song 'Best Thing I Never Had' because I am totally addicted to it and the entire album! Hope you enjoy! _

_We're doing things a little differently with this one..._

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope headed to the door, wrapping the silk dressing gown around her scantily clad body. She opened the door with a smile, yet felt the corners dip the moment she saw who was on the other side. She looked him up and down and saw her past coming back to wrap itself around her.

"Penny," Kevin started as he stood there, he looked her up and down and smiled. "Wow."

"Can I ask how you found me?" Penelope asked him, she hadn't seen him for nearly two years. "Actually, I don't think I want to know. Not today, not ever."

"Please, I was wrong. I never, ever, ever should've done that to you. I was wrong to take advantage of you like that," He then pushed Penelope into the room and then pushed the door shut behind him. "Please, Penelope. I love you."

Penelope scoffed a laugh, "You loved me so much that you jumped into bed with a stranger? Oh wait, she wasn't a stranger to _you_ was she?" She asked him in disbelief, "See all of this, Kevin. The place you're at, the room you're in, the dress," She pointed to the wardrobe, "that's hanging up, this is what I wanted all along. A man that loves me with every ounce of his being." She then smiled as she thought at what today entailed, "I'm finally happy."

Kevin stood and felt like someone had pierced his heart. He was blind to ever think he could've just walked back into Penelope's life after so long without assuming that she had moved on. He now knew what karma felt like because looking at the smile on her face he knew she was entirely happy. However, a part of him wouldn't give up. He believed he wasn't too late yet.

"Penny, you know Morgan's type. He's a player. Once a player, always a player," He said trying to strike out at the thing that hurt the most.

Penelope saw read, "And once a cheat, always a cheat." She replied, her tone a stark contrast to the burning gaze she had on Kevin. "You do not know Derek, so how dare you walk in here and make those accusations like you're some saint." She then went towards him, "I will become Mrs Morgan by the time the day is out, and I will kiss my husband and in a couple of years time when I look at the family I have with him I will be sending you a thank you card for doing the dirty and letting me get the man I always loved."

Kevin stood shocked at that admittance.

"I'm sorry Kevin, but I dodged a bullet with you. I wasn't happy in Arizona and it took me walking away from it all to realise that. It took you doing that for me to realise what I deserve." She looked at him, "I can't thank you enough for blowing it or we would've been living in a state of denial and that wouldn't have had either of us happy." Penelope admitted, she had moved with him believing it would heal their relationship but really he had caused it to break even more and in the end Kevin sleeping around was a God send in its own way. On top of that, Penelope was finally able to release a lot of pent up anger and feelings after Kevin ran.

"There was a time I thought you couldn't do a thing wrong. That everything you did was perfect. Like you were some heaven sent saint and it took you sleeping with someone other than me to show me that you were nothing but an ignorant man like the rest of them."

"Like the rest of them?" He asked her and smirked, "and here you are marrying one."

"Derek's not like you," Penelope pointed out and saw the hurt strike across Kevin's face. "Nine years proved that to me. He isn't you Kevin."

"He will cheat on you though. Once a player, always a player it's true. That's what they say." He used that line again; he was clutching straws and losing his grip fast. He was out to hit hard and he knew if he could dampen Derek's reputation and name, he would weaken Penelope's hold on the idealistic view she had for Derek.

Penelope crossed her arms over her chest, "And to think I almost loved you at one point in my life. Boy was that a mistake." Penelope laughed and shook her head, "I like the real you Kevin. It shows I haven't really missed out at all." She told him truthfully, feeling like she now had her ground to tell him every ounce of emotion she had refused to let out in the early stages of their break up and ignorance for one another. "There was a time when I wanted you back. Thought I needed you back, but I didn't and it took me almost losing Derek to realise that."

"You know you don't mean that," Kevin almost sounded like a beggar when he said that and he knew if push came to shove he would drop to his knees if he thought it would get him anywhere.

"You're the best thing I never had, Kevin," She said with a smile, the apologetic tone remaining thickly in her voice. "I am so happy right now."

Kevin could fell his wits ends failing now. He wanted to shake Penelope, wake her up. Make her believe he was the better option for her, not Derek Morgan. Just hearing his name in his head churned his stomach. The agent had won over the geek again, just like the jocks used to.

"I think it's best you leave. The girls will be back in a moment and I need to be in that dress before they are," She told him and offered him a little smile, "I'm sorry it never worked out for us Kevin, but you had the cards in your hand and at the time I thought you had dealt me the worst hand possible." She then went opened the door, "I don't regret anything that happened. They're your regrets now."

Fleeing the room, Kevin took ever last piece of hurt and regret he had ever tainted life with at one point or another. He had no right to be there anymore, but he just couldn't leave entirely.

Kevin had hidden and waited and now watched down the aisle as Derek put his hand out for her to take, and just as the door shut on him, he couldn't mistake the smile and adoration displayed on Derek's face.

Foolishly he stuck around and followed them to the reception and hung around watching them. Praying that maybe there might be a moment that he could see that this was a deceitful event, that Derek was in one hundred and ten percent.

Every second he watched he couldn't deny it any longer. He had lost, well and truly lost and it was no one else's fault but his own and he had to accept it. Kevin sighed as he watched the first dance commence, he was trespassing now. He was gate crashing a wedding he had no right to be at.

"I bet it sucks to be you right now," Rossi said as he came back into the room, towards the blushing bride and the proud groom as they danced. He said nothing else, just the finishing pieces to Kevin's already made up mind.

Kevin couldn't lie. It did suck to be him.

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	2. Leaving Me, Leaving You

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_I warned I was gonna do this a little different! Lol So, I hope you like and thank you for the reviews, alerts and favourites =) _

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**Two Years Earlier**

"You remember my proposal about the farm?" Kevin asked Penelope as she sat working.

Penelope turned and looked at him surprised, "The isolated farm?" She asked him, "Psychopaths playground farm? That one?" She questioned him repeatedly.

Kevin laughed nervously, "Yeah, that would be the one." He stepped into the room and put his hand out to pull her to her feet. "I have a proposition for you."

"Oh yeah, and what is this proposition that you have for this oracle," Penelope quipped and fixed his messily sat collar. "So, this proposition? Am I going to like it?" She continued as he remained silent.

"It depends?" He watched her brow shoot up and back around a little, "Ever been to Arizona?"

"Arizona?" Penelope question, her voice becoming quiet and confused. Not sure where this conversation as going. "That's- well, wow, that's quite far away, Kevi, but no."

Kevin nodded excitedly, "I've been offered a job-"

"And this includes me and the farm how exactly?"

"Well," Kevin started, his nerves building again, "My parent's offered me a house there, when I got offered a new job and well, I was thinking, we could go and make a life there and maybe a couple of years down the line when we have a bit of money together we could get that farm." He shrugged a little, "Bring a family up."

"Oh," Penelope managed. She was still shocked that he had taken the time to confer with his parents and set up living arrangements before even telling her he had a new job.

"So what do you say?" He asked her expectantly, but he was met with complete shock and silence.

The phone rang, breaking the moment, lengthening the silence.

"You better get that," Kevin told her and let go of her hands, "I'll see you later, Penny."

Penelope watched her boyfriend leave, she had been given her ideal life on a platter and her voice had become non-existent for her to use. Furrowing her brow she felt panicked at what to do. Did she leave her family or did she let Kevin down once again choosing them over him?

"Might wanna answer the phone, Baby," Came Derek's voice from the doorway, his body silhouetted by the corridor lights. "Might be someone important," He said and waved his phone at her, showing her it was him calling.

Penelope relaxed into a smile, seeing Derek as her saviour once again. He stole her every thought away from her.

"I have a niggling suspicion that it's just some sort of Chocolate Adonis on the end of the line," She teased easily and crossed her arms over her chest, "What can I do for you, Morgan?" She asked politely and put her head to the side.

"It's lunch," He said and taped his watch, "We had ourselves a little date."

"Of course," She said and turned back to the computers, "How could I forget?"

"You were otherwise occupied," Derek joked as he leant against the doorframe watching her intently as she saved what was on the screens and cleared her work space quickly. He laughed when she looked up at him oddly, "Yeah I saw Lynch leaving and I thought I'd steal my girl because he gets her every minute he wants her."

"Aw poor baby," Penelope quipped, "Well I have to say you have amazing timing and I will be forever grateful to you for saving me."

"Saving you?" Derek asked, "Saved you from what exactly?"

Penelope sucked in a breath and stood up, "Can I tell you over a drink?"

"Erm, yeah, of course you can," Derek replied. His tone not hiding that he was a little confused at what it could've been and he didn't want his mind to be making up presumptuous possibilities and scenarios in his head. "Everything okay?"

"Yup," Penelope said quickly, "I just need to bounce some stuff off of you, Handsome."

Derek put his arm out to pull her from the room, "Let's go and get you a strong drink then."

It didn't take long for Derek to drive and park up at a bar nearby to the bureau. He held the door open for Penelope and told her to go and get a seat while he grabbed them drinks and a couple of menus. He watched her as she sat quietly and wrung her hands together. Her face contorted with heavy thought.

"Here you go, Princess," He said as he put a glass of wine down in front of her.

"Mmm, thank you, Hot Stuff," She told him told him appreciatively.

He sat down without another word, seeing if she would start talking before he had to ask her. "So are you going to tell me what's got you so pensive penny looking?" He teased her lightly in an attempt to break the mood surrounding Penelope. "Because I'm not liking it much."

Penelope took the glass of wine in her hands, twisting it in thought, "Kevin got offered a new job."

"Right, so are you scared he's going to dump you?" Derek asked her back wary of her reaction. He was a little curious that this might be the end of Kevin and Penelope's relationship leaving her wide open to a new man – namely him.

"No, no that's not it," She replied instantly bursting his bubble somewhat harshly, "He asked me to go with him. Get some money then get that farm and," She paused and looked at him wide eyed, "and start a family someday."

"Wow," Derek said and sat back shocked, wishing he could've drunk something stronger than he was. He shook the shock away, he wanted Penelope to be happy and if that meant she was supposed to be with Kevin then so be it. "Why didn't you give him an answer earlier then?"

"Because Quantico's home," Penelope told him and smiled lightly. "Arizona won't be."

"So was California," Derek pointed out and watched her face ignite with hurt at the thought, "All I'm saying is that wherever you are, home is." He smiled at her, "And I stick by that, Penelope. Forever."

"Anyone would think you want me to leave, Morgs," Penelope quipped playfully at him, acting hurt.

He shook his head slightly at her, "I think that you deserve this," Derek continued, "You deserve to be happy, Baby Girl, above everyone you do." He shook her hands so that she looked at him again. "Gotta keep that smile on your face, Sweet Thing."

Penelope laughed and the tears she had been fighting with fell.

"Hey now, no tears," Derek said and reached up and wiped them away. "What's there to cry about? You and Lynch are getting your big break."

"Without you," She told him sorrowfully, "I don't know if I'm ready to leave."

"Just go, and if you don't like it, you come home," Derek told her calmly, hiding the rushes of emotions racing within him. "Nothing is undoable, Baby. If you wanna come home then you do, but promise me this..."

"What?" She asked him.

"Give it a try," He finished off seriously. "You never took time out after you were shot, and then everything we went through, you just carried on. We all went off to our families, we got breaks but you stuck here. You never got away. I just think maybe, you know, it'll do you good all round."

"Don't profile me, Derek. I just need a friend," Penelope berated him; "I could've gone wherever I wanted whenever I got the chance."

"But you didn't," He pointed out and rose one of his perfect eyebrows at her, "However much it hurts me to see you leave, leave me especially, I just think you need to give this ago."

"You gonna miss me?" She asked quietly, almost playfully. "Even though I'm technically leaving you?"

"Of course I'll miss you," He told her truthfully, he just didn't tell her the extent of which her being almost on the other side of the country would make him miss her. "Just do what's right for you, Baby Girl and the rest will just fall into place."

"Right then," Penelope spoke up then and straightened up in her seat, "I guess I'm going to go-" She paused then, "-to Arizona."

Derek winked at her, "I'll always be back here if you decide you want to come back."

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	3. Hitting Friction

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_Thanks as always guys! Hope you enjoy this =)_

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope looked up at the grand house in front of her. Disbelieving that this was hers and Kevin's new home. She had been cooped up in a car for what seemed like days rather than hours and now she was bestowed with her future and she knew that Kevin had under sold what was waiting for them here.

Smiling she turned to Kevin as he looped an arm around her waist, "It's beautiful," she said and kissed him.

"And it's all ours," He said and Penelope beamed brighter, "Well almost."

Penelope felt her smile harden at that. He used the fact that his mom and dad had bought the house for them. However, she wasn't going to let that spoil her mood; she was ready to make this house a home.

"Shall we have a little fun with this?" Penelope asked and Kevin looked at her ambiguously, "Do the honours..." She trailed off and watched him let her go and run to the door and unlock it. Penelope shook her head; she was a little disappointed in Kevin's use of imagination and romance for this and then followed him up the stairs slowly. It wasn't the fun she had in mind, but it was obviously the best she was going to get. There would be no carrying over the threshold for her.

"C'mon Pen! It's huge!" He shouted from the threshold.

Penelope laughed, he might lack romance, but Kevin sure could kick your enthusiasm into place if you had lost it.

"This is it, Penelope," Kevin said as he pulled her close to his side again and kissed her cheek hard, "The new life."

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope looked down at the photo she had been given as a going away present from the team. She smiled a little sadly at her past life and then looked up at the room, trying to find a perfect place for it. Going to the fireplace she put it in the middle and stepped back and then got more photos out of the box. She put them out spaciously, mixing up hers and Kevin's pictures together, their families together on any viable surface.

Satisfied she went on with emptying boxes and setting up a perfect home.

Coming back into the living room later that night, she took a sip of her tea and stilled, all the photos had been moved. Kevin's family beamed at her. She swung around and saw that all of her photos had been put at the back whilst Kevin's had taken precedence.

"Kev," She called out, "Honey, what's the deal with the photos?"

Kevin came out of the study and looked around and shrugged, "Nothing, Penny. They look fine."

"No," She said and turned to him, "They look like your family is ruling every possible surface."

He looked around, "Oh that, I just felt like proper family should get more precedence than your team."

Penelope looked at him shocked, "Proper family? Kevin have you hit your head and forgotten that they_ are_ my proper family?" She asked him and went and moved the photos back, "This is our house, Kevin, not yours and not mine."

"Actually it's my parents," Kevin pointed out, "So I think there being more of the Lynch family up seems fitting."

Stopping what she was doing, Penelope sighed, "You know what, do what you want. I'm tired so I'm just going to go to bed," She said and left the room before he saw just how hurt she was by that comment. "Don't rush up," She called out over her shoulder and went upstairs.

They weren't even a full twenty four hours into their new life and already she had found their first source of friction. One that followed them all the way from Virginia.

Kevin looked at the photos and went back into the study. He didn't care much and he thought Penelope's reaction to it was the exhaustion that the move had left them with. They hadn't stopped all day, they had barely seen one another as they unpacked and now it was late and she was reacting to the simplest of things.

He knew come tomorrow she would be back to herself and the movement of the photos would be just water under the bridge.

Penelope looked around the new bedroom, there was no colour, it was just neutral. Like Switzerland. She hated Switzerland. She knew that whatever happened downstairs wouldn't be brought in here. Kevin had proven that by not following her up the stairs. Going to the bed she sunk down on it and she was thankful that at least some place in this house was her sanctum, was a safe haven when she got home sick.

_If you get home sick, just look at this_, Derek's voice said in her head and she reached for the bedside table and pulled out the photo of the two of them. She shouldn't have kept it so close; she should've put it somewhere hidden and away. Looking at Derek press a kiss to her temple though brought some bout of calm to Penelope. She sat and touched the glass, remembering that day and then she put it away and got ready for bed, wanting to forget the first day of her forever.

This was not how she thought this life would begin.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Kevin watched Penelope sleep as he stood in the doorway. It had gotten too quiet once she had gone to bed and he didn't like it at all. He felt bad once Penelope had gone upstairs. Realised he had been a complete ass and had been insensitive. Penelope had been right; they were proper family considering her real family hadn't spoken to her years. The team had helped her through things no one else had and it wasn't until that thought entered his head that he went into the living room and put the photos back.

Now he undressed and climbed into his side of their bed and pulled her into his arms, "I'm sorry," He whispered to her and kissed her gently, "I really am."

Penelope breathed in deeply and opened her eyes, "It's fine," she lied sleepily and closed her eyes again, lavishing the only thing that felt like home to her at that moment – his arms around her.

"It's not fine, I hurt you, Penny," Kevin told her, "I didn't mean to. I'm just tired from the move."

"Then get some sleep, Honey," She whispered and just fell back to sleep, still not ready to confront their new life away from the team just yet.

Kevin saw that she wasn't up to talking and he accepted that and just gave up. Tomorrow was a new day and he knew once she saw his apology by moving the photos back that they would resume their normal behaviour.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	4. Stealing Attention

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_So we all know Lynch is annoying... lol Thanks as always! _

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope sat on the bed after another long and tiresome day. After nearly three months she wished she could just go back to Quantico and slip into her own office and kick some bad guys ass, but alas, the team had a new tech and she had no job to go back to. Her probation period had ended and the mediocre job was all hers.

She was trying to like Arizona, and for the most part she was, but she was lonely. She might have kept her expectations high but no one she met seemed to feel the space in which the team had infringed on her life. No one was like any of them and for that she loved them all the more.

"Hello stranger," Derek almost drooled down the phone to her.

Laughing she replied, "Hello to you too."

"And what do I do to deserve this phone call?" He asked her teasingly, "It feels like forever, Baby Girl."

"Well I guess it's a good thing it wasn't forever," Penelope replied, "So how wonderful is the life of Derek Morgan going without his gorgeous sidekick?"

"Well I met someone," Derek told her and hung his head at the lie. He wanted her to believe he was fine without her, that he wasn't missing her, that his quality of life was better than ever. She sounded sated with her life, he wanted to be too. "She's called Dana."

"Oh," Penelope blurted out, "Oh, well, well done, Handsome. Now do I need to look this Dana chick up or is it all okay?"

"It's early days so far, Baby Girl."

"You're not getting any younger, D," Penelope teased him and heard him laugh. Her shoulders slumped then. She would give anything to see that smile again.

"We need to cam soon," Derek said as if knowing her thoughts, "I miss seeing your smile."

Penelope let an exasperated laugh and wiped the tear away, "Please tell me you are in Quantico and not outside watching me right now."

Derek chuckled, "Why's that, Baby?"

"Because you just read my mind, and you usually do that when you're watching me," Penelope told him and sat and looked at her laptop. "Near you computer now?"

"Sure am," He told her, "I brought work home."

"Tut tut, Baby Boy," She told him and got up and went over to her dresser where it sat. She sat on the chair and turned it on, "Come and find me when I say so."

"Already there and waiting," He replied to her and waited for her to call him on skype.

Moments later her face illuminated his screen and he relaxed remarkably.

"There you are," Derek said as he smiled brightly at her. Immediately he offered her a smile like he hadn't seen her for an eternity, not a couple of months. He then made it look like he was looking around her, "Room's a bit..." He sat looking for the words.

"Bland, boring, colourless, male dominant..." Penelope ran off the tip of her tongue, "Not me at all..."

"Ah, yeah, all of those and may I just add," He leant in then, "Nice nightie sitting on the pillow there, Baby Girl." He chuckled as Penelope's cheeks reddened and even the webcam couldn't hide that. "God if we had a bedroom, Goddess, it wouldn't look _anything_ like that."

"Oh yeah and what would the room of Penelope and Derek look like?" Penelope asked as she finally felt relaxed for the first time in months.

"It'd compliment you for one thing, and I'd made sure the bed called your name, _with _or_ without_ me in it." He almost mused dreamily at her, "I'd make sure it burst with life and that my cologne sat amongst your make up and not in its place. I bet your undies never mix with his in the drawers... am I right?"

Penelope nodded, "Kevin's very... precise with where he wants to find his clothes." She defended and crossed her arms over her chest, "I bet you'd love to find my lacy knickers in amongst your things." She teased him back, trying to swallow the lump in her then?" Penelope moved on as she heard the front door open. She leaned in to the cam, "Kevin's home so behave," She whispered the warning to him.

"Oh the fun I could have," Derek spoke back and rubbed is hands in glee. He watched her shoot him a look and he put his hands up in mock defeat. "So... the team, they're good. Getting on with life, but we're all missing the odd quirks and nicknames that our resident Goddess gave us."

"Ah poor babies, they get them when I call and stuff," Penelope told him, "Plus, there's always the chance of a getaway here..." Penelope trailed off hopeful.

Derek smirked and went to speak, but Kevin's voice cut in loudly.

"Penny, I brought dinner home!" Kevin shouted up, "It's getting cold."

Penelope rose her eyebrows in disappointment, "Well it seems dinner's calling. Keep it perfect there, Mr Morgan."

"You do the same, Miss. Garcia," He winked at her before closing off their connection quickly.

Sitting for a few minutes, Penelope felt her heart race faster; she was really, really missing Derek now. Unfortunately for her she couldn't sit and dwell too long as Kevin called up the stairs again.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

A couple of weeks later, Penelope picked her phone up and hit Derek's number on speed dial. She needed to hear his voice.

"Settled in better now?" Was his hello to her.

"Yup," Penelope said as she lay down flat on the bed.

"If that's so, Baby, then why do you not sound happy?" Derek asked as he kicked back on the couch, phone in one hand, beer in the other. "Well?" He asked when he was met with silence.

"I'm just tired, Handsome," Penelope lied to him.

"Speak to me," Derek pushed, "you don't actually think I'm going to fall for the 'I'm tired' trick do you?"

The silence trickled in heavier for a moment.

"Do you ever wish you could just go back in time?" Was all Penelope asked quietly down the line. "Go back and do things differently?"

"All the time," Derek replied because he did. He wished her could go back and tell her not to go, to let him promise her everything she had ever wanted. The husband, the house, the children to fill it. He would rather have endured her heartbreak then and mended her back up, if it meant he got her as his girl, but he had wasted that chance and he had to live with it. "What did we say about trying? I know you might see it as a couple of months, but really it's not be that long at all. It can only get better."

Penelope sighed heavily, "I am giving this ago, I really am. It's just taking a while to stop me from feeling homesick."

"Only a natural feeling to a big transition, Princess," Derek sympathised with her.

"But I want my lair back, Derek," Penelope almost whined, "Kevin got an office, I got a _cubicle_," She joked lightly. "Oracle status stripped from me."

"Aw, the oracle status could never be stripped from you. I could name other things that could, but never your status." Derek joked back and listened to her laugh easily, "See you needed a little Morgan remedy to make you a little more upbeat."

Penelope heard the front door open and close and she looked out at the hallway and sighed a little. She was finally getting some personal things off of her chest and Kevin was now home.

"Kevin's home," She breathed out, "At last." She said more to herself. She had been waiting on him to get home for hours now. "I better go, I've barely seen Kevin."

"Sure," Derek said hoping his hurt didn't convey in his voice. "I'll speak to you soon, P. I love you, Baby Girl," He told her truthfully and waited for the reply.

"I love you too, Derek," Penelope said and snapped her phone shut, "Always."

Kevin stood in the hallway, and heard the heavy silence that settled after. When Penelope started to make movement around the room, Kevin back tracked and came up the landing a little louder.

"Penelope," He called out, trying to ignore the anger he felt about what he had overheard.

Even in Arizona, Kevin didn't have Penelope's whole attention.

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	5. Dealing With The Future

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope finally felt like she could deal with the pangs in her heart that she felt whenever she spoke to Derek. The rarer those times got, the harsher the ebb of love she had for him. She knew the only thing that was going to stop that was to seal the fate of herself and settle with what she had at home.

She was going to discuss what the foreseeable looked like with Kevin. Maybe even get him to pop the question. She was in Arizona for a reason and she had to stick by her own saying.

Everything happened for a reason.

She had to see the split from her Virginia life as a reason to finally settle down away from the control of the FBI.

Smiling as she went, she felt good about thinking of a future with Kevin. They were well suited with one another; they had been together for what felt like an eternity as it was. Getting married would just be the icing on the cake for her. She would finally get a comfortable life, settled down and she could finally look forward to those children. After all, Kevin had promised her that life months ago. That had been the deal sealer after all, the promise of the good life after so long.

Tonight was the night she was going to get it all.

Sliding her heels off, she put her aching soles on the cool wood of the hallway and went through to the kitchen, lavishing the cool tiling soothing them. She went to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of wine and went to the drawer for a corkscrew. Putting the bottle down, she heard a noise upstairs and proceeded to get a glass. She knew Kevin was home, he always left earlier than her on a Thursday.

Pouring herself a drink, she heard it again and stalled, listening out. When she heard it again in quick succession she took a sip of her wine and then went for the stairs to investigate what exactly Kevin was up to. Taking one step at a time she heard the noise getting more and more frequent. She stopped all together when she heard a giggle. Even muffled through the door, she couldn't mistake the femininity to it.

Shakily she took the rest of the stairs quickly and quietly. She tried to stop her hand from shaking as she went for the door handle to hers and Kevin's bedroom. Taking in a deep breath she quickly opened the door and entered, freezing completely as she saw Kevin under a thin brunette woman that she had never seen in her life, both completely naked.

"What the-" Penelope stepped back out of the room and put her back to the wall the moment both of them looked at Penelope stunned. She didn't breathe, she couldn't. She was in disbelief over what she had just seen. She shook her head, trying to shift the image but it was getting more and more vivid in her mind so she went to grab her bags. She couldn't sleep in the same bed that Kevin had allowed another woman to sleep in. Nor could she stay in the house with Kevin after seeing him doing the dirty with a complete stranger.

"Penny! Stop!" Kevin almost screeched at her as he came out of the room in his boxers and grabbed her hands from getting the suitcases from the spare room. "Penelope..." He growled at her.

Penelope snatched her hands away, "Don't you dare touch me!" Penelope screamed and then stormed into the bedroom. She felt sick to stomach. "Get the hell out of my house," Penelope said lowly to the woman in the bed, sheet still wrapped around her slender body, "Because believe me, I will make it hurt and I will make sure I never get caught for doing it."

"You wouldn't dare," The woman said snidely as she eyed Penelope up and down. "Plus, why would he want you when he can have me?"

"Oh, Honey, believe me, I have a lot more to offer a man than rag and bones," Penelope ground out as she put her hands on her hips, "So I suggest you get your tatty clothes on and get the hell out of my sight."

"He wanted you so much he came and found me," She said as she got up, sheet and all. "And keeps coming back for more, behind your back."

"I'll take this now," Penelope said and snatched the sheet away, leaving the woman bare and vulnerable to quickly clothe herself. "Oh by the way, you can have him. He's all yours now."

Kevin and the unknown brunette exchanged looks.

"Oh have I put the flame out?" Penelope asked sarcastically, "Shame." She then barged passed the pair of them and went to finally get her suitcases. She was too angry in that moment to cry, and she was not going to show Kevin what he had done to her. He was not going to get the satisfaction of seeing just how much she was hurting over this. How her chest was splitting in two as she relived the moments of catching him mid sex with a stranger in their bed.

Kevin became enraged by Penelope's final actions. She wasn't going to let up and offer him a second chance, nor was she going to just drop this moment and forget about it. This was it, and he remembered the phone call he had overheard months ago, the one that had tipped him enough to get drunk enough to start sleeping with another woman. _I love you, Derek. Always._ Those words sat in his mind forever on loop and he had done a good job to just ignore it all this time. Just now they seemed to stick in his gut so much more than ever.

"I still came second best to him," Kevin said as he followed Penelope's every move. "Even here in another state, you just couldn't drop the banter on the phone could you? It's always about him."

Penelope pinched the bridge of her nose, "Derek Morgan is not the reason you slept around so come up with a different reason! I am here, every day, every night without fail. I left my life with him and the others and made one with you here and you ruined that Kevin."

"Oh please," Kevin snorted, "Like you could stop wishing you were back there."

Penelope put her hand up to silence him, "Please just stop talking right now."

Kevin knew it didn't matter what words he flung at her, what actions he did, Penelope was still leaving tonight and that was final. He left the room, hoping his giving in to the moment would change her mind, see that he was a defeated a man.

Penelope watched him leave and let out a cleansing breath before grabbing everything that belonged to her and put it in whatever bag and box she could. She didn't care if it got broken or creased in doing so she just needed to get out, she needed to escape before all her defence mechanisms exploded and left her raw and open.

As she zipped her bag up, she was finally glad that she had accepted to live in a house that Kevin's mother and father had bought him. She had no ties to this except the odd bill which she could just pull her name from. All she knew was that she wasn't going to take a step back in it with any hope of a future to be Penelope Lynch.

She grabbed what she could and took it down the stairs and put by the door and went back for the other things. Then grabbing a bag, she went around the house picking up things that she wanted, things that she actually wanted to see again.

"Throw the rest," she told him and then opened the door and grabbed two of the suitcases. "Enjoy this life, Kevin because I am not sharing it with you," Penelope said and put her suitcases in the boot of her car. "How could I ever be so stupid?"

"I love you, Penelope. I'm sorry!" Kevin started to repent for what he had done. The moment he realised that Penelope wasn't going to give him a second chance he decided to beg to make her stay with him.

"Don't even bother," Penelope said and went back for more of her things, "Take a good look because this is the last you'll ever see of me."

Kevin did take a good look, especially as he saw her reverse off of their drive and left him for good.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	6. What Life Becomes

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_So Lynch is gone... for now... Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favourites!_

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope looked around the hotel room, her life in suitcases and boxes and she sighed heavily. This was not the forever she was after. This was not the bright future she had had planned for herself.

Her gaze took in the photo on the top of the open box and she felt her eyes water. Rolling them to take away the tears she got up and walked towards the mirror.

"This is your life now, Penelope. Arizona is your new home." Penelope spoke out loud to her mirror image and even she couldn't get the conviction in her own voice to make herself believe it. "Gotta keep working forward."

Penelope ignored the rough look her face had gotten. The gaunt sunken look from the stress her work had piled on her. She ignored the entire change that battling to get enough money together to afford a decent hotel room was doing to her.

She slunk over to the bed and sat down heavily again. Looking at the box she laughed a little at the irony of her life now. She was the one living out of boxes and suitcases, not Kevin. She was the one that woke up in a hotel every morning because it was cheaper than renting for the mean time, not Kevin. To add insult to it all, Kevin was the hot shot at work, with the healthy pay flow, the plush hi-tech office and he was the one that got to order her around as one of his busy bodies.

That was why she quit that job that morning. Resigned effective immediately because she couldn't handle any more of Kevin's orders and she couldn't work under his attitude towards everyone. Especially her, it was as though she was the cheater in their lives, not him. For another three and a half months she had worked, came back to the hotel and slept, ready to get up to do it again.

Penelope was living a lifeless existence.

She closed her eyes as she tried to get a grip quickly. In the ache that was left from Kevin's deceit Penelope had lost contact with Derek more and more. He didn't know Kevin had cheated, he didn't know she was living in a hotel and every time he offered to webcam with her, she had made up a lie why she couldn't. She didn't want him to know how badly her life had fallen through when she had strived and tried to make it work.

Penelope wiped a tear and finally got into the bed that was nowhere near the haven she needed and just cried for once. She let the pain she carried around with her daily flow out until sleep invaded her and took her from the loneliness place in her little world.

She had walked away from what she had loved so much. Walked away with Derek's optimism and encouragement and now he was loved up in Quantico and soon, when she pulled back completely, she would simply disappear into the background.

Preferably never to be seen again.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Derek ran his hands over his head, he had a bad feeling in his stomach and he was beyond distracted. He had been in the months since Penelope had upped sticks and left with Kevin. He knew now he should've told her he was in love with her, maybe used it as a bargaining tool, but he was too late. Derek knew that waiting for the right moment was by far the worse decision of his life.

He dreaded how their phone calls dwindled. Soon to be nothing. He had a suspicion that one day they would drift and they wouldn't need one another like they thought they did, but he didn't expect it to happen quick so soon in their future. He felt like he was losing Penelope to Arizona and he was just a mere bystander to allow her to go and let it happen. He had pushed her to that life and now he was regrettably rethinking why he had actually let her go.

He was a fool to ever think it was a good plan, for him or her. He needed more than a weekly, soon to be monthly call, and he needed more than to know she was settled comfortably with Kevin Lynch. He valued her happiness in his highest regard, but he also valued what she did and didn't deserve and he believed, after months of trawling his mind for it, that he was her better option.

He could offer her enduring love, undying romance, security, safety, a house to become a home, a future full with kids and promise. He could offer her everything Kevin could, but unlike Kevin he would make them publically known if he had to.

Sighing and focusing on the file in front him, he gave up on that thought. She had Kevin, she didn't need him after all and that was how life had become from now on.

"Take this and find her," Hotch said as he and Rossi now stood by his desk.

Derek looked down at the airline ticket in front of him, "I can't, I've got work to do."

Rossi crossed his arms over his chest, "Most evenings since Penelope has been gone you have worked, and worked. You don't go out Morgan; you don't even lap up the female attention when women throw themselves at you. So take that ticket and get the one thing that's making it happen."

"She's got Lynch," Derek spoke back dejectedly, "She doesn't need me." Derek continued and was to shocked to hear the sheer bitterness he had allowed to flow with that entire statement.

Hotch scoffed a laugh, mimicking Rossi's action of crossing his arms over his chest, "Last time I checked that wasn't exactly conclusive and sealed in concrete." Hotch said and shot him a look, "Go and find her, Morgan. Go and tell her how you really feel before it's too late."

"Just remember Morgan, we're the two on the team that had the loves of our lives and lost them both," Rossi finished off and looked at Hotch, "I fancy some scotch. Still got some of that left in your office?"

"I do," Hotch simply replied, "You've got a week. I'll see you next week." He told Derek and walked off up to his office.

Derek looked down at the airline ticket again and he didn't need telling twice. He had his opportunity to go and get the one thing his head and heart were screaming constantly for. He had his chance to go and get the girl of his dreams. He wasn't going to waste any more chances with her because if he did then he had to live with the devastating consequences.

He had a forwarding address and he didn't care if he was going to get there in the morning before they left for work, but he was going to get there and have her back in front of him after too many months.

He could almost already feel her body close. See her smile resonating in front of his. Hear her voice loop around his brain and fill his ears. Soon Penelope would be filling every one of his senses and he would thank God above for it.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope had thought she was finally getting over Kevin, over his deceit and over him giving her the illusion of a good life until she was faced with him again. A couple of nights later when she saw him out she realised she wasn't even getting there. There he was, his arms wrapped around the brunette woman from that night. He had a smile on his lips that she had never seen him give her and that just continued to allow her heart to bottom into her stomach all over again.

Feeling at a lose end, she turned on her heels and hastily walked the way she had come from. She kept her head down, hoping Kevin hadn't seen her and just went to find her car. Grabbing her purse from her shoulder she started rummaging for her keys, not looking where she was going.

"Whoa," Came a deep voice as his hands came to grab her arms to steady her as they collided.

Penelope's head shot up in that moment and her eyes looked into the all too familiar eyes of Derek. She felt immediately as though the cat had caught her tongue. She never realised just how beautiful he was until she hadn't had him near her for months. She realised she had forgotten how he got her heart beating rapidly, at how her breath seemed to become somewhat bated.

"You're a hard woman to find, Baby Girl," He near enough purred at her, his voice not hiding how happy he was to finally have her close.

Feeling his voice, and his words, swirl around her head, Penelope felt herself falter and within a couple of seconds she felt everything come crashing down as the tears began to fall one by one.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	7. Missing You The Most

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_Gonna let you down a little, the end of the fic is nigh... it's slowly creeping up... but for now, enjoy this! =)_

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

"I thought you'd be happier to see me than this," Derek teased as he slipped into the booth he had left Penelope at. "Guess I wasn't that missed."

Penelope remained silent as her hands wrapped around her drink. Derek had it all wrong, he was the most missed person in her entire life. She had never felt more of a void the moment she had left than ever before. Derek was the most irreplaceable person in her life.

"You can talk to me you know, Baby. I know it's been a couple of months, but you're still my best friend," Derek told her in a calm voice. "You know nothing's changed between us. I'm always going to be here for you. There's no amount of miles that could change that, Sweet Thing."

"Kevin was cheating on me," She told him lowly and looked up slowly, "I-I left everything because he promised that I was going to get everything I have wanted for years and I got none of it. I got the wrong end of the deal here, Derek." She said and looked him dead in the eyes, "I was such a fool to ever believe that this was my big break." Penelope bit her lip and looked up to the ceiling, begging the breakdown not to happen while she was in public, "I wish I could just have some time machine and go back and get away from this- from this hell."

Derek took Penelope's hands in his then and held them tightly, "It's never too late."

"Is it not?" Penelope defied his attempts. She ignored his will to prove to her that all was forgiven and reconciliation had happened way before he was due.

Watching her hate on herself, Derek decided he needed to bite the bullet and cease the moment, "Have you ever thought that all we needed was another place, another time, bit of another life to get us to open up."

"Open up?" Penelope asked confused.

Derek smirked as he leant in, "I'm only here because I love you, Pen. If I didn't love you I wouldn't be here, believe me. If I ever thought Kevin was your absolute best then I would've left it be." Derek took her hands in his, "I can't even function without you, Penelope and that's because I never realised just how good I had it until it was gone."

Penelope saw the sorrow fill Derek's eyes. She saw how much he meant when he spoke those words.

"I'm really glad you found me then, Handsome," Penelope whispered and smiled lightly. "But I always thought Kevin was my best."

"Kevin's no one's best," Derek told her truthfully, "and if that little thing he's walking around town with think she's found her match then she's wrong. Once a cheater always a cheater. That boy will never be satisfied." He then smirked heavily, "Oh and believe me when I say that there will be a day when he will come running back to you and he would've missed out on the best thing he could've ever had."

Penelope looked down and sniffed as her tears dripped from her cheeks to the table top, "I lied to you, Derek. Why aren't you angry?"

Derek took her hand again in his, "Because I lied to you too," Derek told her genuinely. "When I saw Kevin leave that house, and a brunette kissed him goodbye, I knew that I didn't care if you got angry with me because I lied to you about seeing someone or if you'd hated me for it. I knew I had to give you my everything. I finally had the clearest opening possible and I was stealing it and making it mine forever more."

"I wanted to run to you so much in the last couple of months, but I thought you were settled back home. Without me. The more I spoke to you, the worse it hurt and I didn't want to admit that Arizona is my idea of hell. I'm so embarrassed that I upped and left and it's all falling down around me." She wiped her face clear of tears, "I mean, how did you even find me? Why are you here?"

"Well I've been in Arizona three days and I couldn't find you anywhere," Derek told her, "So I just thought I'd look around, try hot spots before ringing Hotch or Rossi for help. They gave me my ticket by the way. Told me to come and get my girl because they lost the loves of their lives and they didn't want me to end up the same." Derek told her honestly and smiled a little, shrugged his shoulders and let out a laugh, "It's been a stressful couple of days, wondering why the hell you hadn't told me about Kevin, wondering where you had gotten too, why you quit your job."

"Oh," Penelope breathed, "That."

"So why did you?" Derek asked her.

"Kevin was the worst supervisor ever," She said despondently, "My pay was under half of what it was in Quantico and I don't appreciate being told I work below standards when I made sure my perfectly manicured fingers do more than what is expected of me. How dare Kevin use this as a way for him to make it big? How dare he use me as a pawn in his life like that? Did I mean that little to him?"

"He's a selfish man, Penelope. He thought about number one and in the long run that will not get him anywhere. He will start to see his life fall apart on him and he will regret ever ruining what he had with you."

Penelope looked up at Derek fiercely then, "I was the fool that fell for it all though, Derek. The farm, the new life, my own family," She faltered again. "He used that against me. He knew I wanted to have a family, have my own children and he played on it and manipulated me." Penelope said as she started to get angry now over it all again. "I will never, ever, ever give that weasel the opportunity to destroy anything in my life again."

"Then don't let him destroy who you are," Derek told her and caught her off guard by that, "He is taking away what makes you, you, Penelope. He hurt you and you're harbouring that. You think he destroyed your life, but he hasn't. You can reclaim your life back in Quantico, and if you want to you can make his life extremely difficult with a few key strokes and he wouldn't even know."

Penelope smiled a little at him, "I knew all I needed was a little Derek Morgan down time."

"You'll be getting more than that, Baby. I have eight months to catch up on myself and boy do I plan to cherish you," Derek vowed to her with a self assured grin.

"And the fact that you're not needed in work for another three days," Penelope pointed out knowingly, "Am I right?"

"Don't you know it," Derek told her back confidently, "I will see that you're happier by the time it's up."

"Oh yeah? How you going to do that, Handsome?" Penelope asked him back. She sat there looking at him, listening to him and she realised that she couldn't see him leave her there in three days time, but she had no idea what she would have to go back to. She was stuck in a rut and she had no idea how to sort the mess out just yet.

"We'll decide that as and when, Gorgeous," He told her simply, never losing that smile.

"Okay," Penelope replied and fell silent on him. Her thoughts running rapid.

"Right," Derek broke the silence, "Where are you staying?" Derek asked her, he wasn't letting her go back there alone for another night.

"The Hilton down the road," She shrugged at him and thought back to the room that housed all of her belongings.

"Good," Derek said and slid out from his side of the booth.

"Good? Good why?" Penelope asked him confused.

Derek smirked and put his hand out for her, "That's where I'm staying too."

Penelope looked in disbelief, they had been sleeping under the same roof for days and neither had known, but somehow Penelope knew that tonight she was finally going to go to bed with a smile on her lips and not a tear on her cheek.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	8. One Request For You

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favourites =) Hope you enjoy!_

_Rated M_

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Penelope lay secure in Derek's arm later that night and for once she felt at ease with her life.

"Come home with me," Derek asked into the silence of the darkness, "There's nothing keeping you here, nothing but bad memories and wasted hope. Come home with me, Penelope, and let me love you how I nearly missed out on doing. Let me take care of you and give you everything you need and want."

"Derek," Penelope started and bit her lip, "What if you don't want that in a couple of years. There are plenty of choices for you to have that future with."

"I know, but none of them are you and none of them will ever be you," Derek spoke to her with an overwhelming amount of honesty. "I don't want anyone but you, Penelope. It's only ever been you."

Penelope lay in silence for a moment. She felt like this was some dream. Something she was going to wake from. She didn't want to wake up and be all alone again in this place. She wanted to remain here and fell like she had the world at her feet once again.

Taking her silence as a moment of doubt, Derek got up from the bed. His body was a live wire of nerves and lust. He needed to beg for her heart, beg her to open her eyes to him because at that moment. He knew after Kevin she was going to be hard to break, to make her see that someone was wholeheartedly in love with her. She had to realise that she had a man that lived an unbearable eight months without her. That she had someone that travelled across the country and spent days trying to track her down. One that the moment he saw her, his heart ballooned in his chest and the cracks that were there had already started to mend back together.

"You don't believe me do you?" He asked her.

Penelope blinked in disbelief for a moment, "It's not that. I don't get why you want this to happen right away..." Penelope said, showing how low her self worth was after what Kevin had done.

The thing that Derek realised was just how low she was at that moment.

"I am making this happen because my wakeup call was you moving away to a fairy tale ending with Kevin Lynch. What happens if it had been something like you being shot again, or being in a car crash? I won't take another chance where I can potentially lose you Penelope. I refuse to. I watched you pack up your life, and I told you to go because I wanted you to stay happy. All I ever want is to see that smile. I let you go, and the man that I left you with broke you so I refuse to allow another man to tamper with your heart because to me, it's the most fragile thing I own." Derek said as he stood at the foot of the bed, "So I'm sorry if you feel like I'm telling you too much too soon, but you try being the one that has lived three years on the side lines and have to feel the same crushing pain every time you kissed _him_. I'm sorry if you are feeling overwhelmed, but I am feeling so lost here and the only thing that is allowing me to keep any grip on this moment is telling you everything that I have bottled up."

"Derek..."

"And I promise you, I will spend every day making you believe how much I love you because believe me, Penelope when I say that my world has absolutely no worth or use when you aren't in it, I mean it."

"Derek," Penelope spoke again before Derek cut in.

"I just need you to believe me because if you don't then I don't know what else I can do to finally win over the only girl in my life that is worth the heartbreak."

Penelope sat up as she watched him pace, "Derek!" She shouted at him and he froze and turned to her. Penelope got up and went over to him, "You had me at Baby Girl, Handsome but right now you've won me over by actually finding me when I needed you." She said as she raised her hand slowly to the side of his face, cupping it gently. She pulled him close and kissed him delicately and heatedly, showing him just how much she believed his speech.

Closing his eyes as the kiss finished, Derek relished the moment. "Please don't ever let me be without you again, Penelope. It is the worst thing to ever happen in my life."

"I promise you, I will never leave you again. Whenever you go to sleep I'll be there, and when you wake up, I'll still be there." Penelope vowed in whisper as she refused to drop his gaze. She felt like she had so much to pay him back for, that she had heal the broken months they were apart. That there was so much lost time between them that they had to gain back.

"That fairy tale is all yours, if you'll let me have the chance to give you the happily ever after, Baby Girl," Derek asked her trying to hide the tone of his voice that screamed that he was begging right at that moment. Begging just to have the chance to kick start a perfect love with Penelope.

"You better not break that promise," Penelope said as she tried to halt the oncoming tears, "Because Kevin I can deal with breaking my world apart, but you, Derek, that's something I couldn't survive."

Derek smiled at her then and leaned in, "Well it's a good thing I don't intend on doing anything but loving you whole heartedly."

This time Derek instigated the kiss, igniting an influx of electricity to volt through her body, tingle her lips as he motioned to deepen the kiss. Penelope felt herself shoot to a dizzying height, her own form of cloud nine, heaven itself laid bare in that one single kiss.

Within moments, both Penelope and Derek felt the lust exceed all expectable messages. Years of banter, of flirting, of keeping their love locked down all came to stand still. All overwhelming both their systems and finally releasing and allowing them to put the past behind them in an attempt to kick start their perfect future.

As Penelope felt Derek take lift her top off she felt his knuckles brush her skin gently, heating their path as they went. The action instigated more in her and she ran her fingers long the top of his jeans, reaching for the buckle of his belt as his hands ran down her bare back, slipping under her bra as he pulled her close. He let go for a second so she could pull his top off with one hand while she undid his jeans.

Derek wasted no time to get Penelope's skirt off of her, to get her in front of him how he had always dreamt of. He took a step back, socking in the sight for a moment before giving Penelope a devilish smile.

"Oh boy, am I going to have fun with this," He said with a voice full with glee and lust. He looked at Penelope's self conscious posture and decided he was going to show her how gorgeous she was, with or without clothes on.

Closing the gap, he ran his hands around her body again and unclasped her bra before slowly running his hands up her back to bring one of the straps down her arm, uncovering her breasts bit by bit.

"You are so unbelievably beautiful," He whispered as he kissed into her neck. He pushed her slightly towards the bed before picking her up with ease and laying her down on the bed gently.

Penelope watched Derek lick his lips before he climbed on top of her, kissing her insatiably as he fought with the urge to ravish her body. She felt his long tapered fingers play with the hem of her panties before he pulled them down and threw them on the floor with the other items of clothing.

Feeling too exposed, Penelope made quick work of getting Derek completely naked as he towered over her. As she pulled his boxer's down she felt how hard he was and never had she had such an almost impulsive reaction from a guy in her entire life. Kevin especially, but here Derek was immediately as turned on for her as she was for him.

"Ready for this to begin?" Derek asked her as his hand slipped down between her legs, arousing her more than she already was. He felt her wetness and smiled, he might have made love to a lot of women in his time, but Penelope was by far the most exquisite and she was the only one that got him excited about waking up in the morning to seeing her asleep in his arms.

Penelope smirked, her hands running down his back, body already arching under Derek's will, "Born ready." She whispered back and allowed, for the first time, to feel the love of a real man be cursed upon her body.

Hours later the pair lay exhausted in middle of the large bed, neither spoke, both drowned in love and exhaustion.

"Come home with me?" Derek asked suddenly into the darken room, his tone slick with sleep.

Penelope moved to kiss his chest before laying her head back on it, "I'm already there, Handsome."

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**


	9. The Final Acknowledgement

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the plot bunny! **

**A/N: **_Last chapter guys... thanks for all of the reviews, alerts, favourites and general support with this! =) _

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

Derek watched his soon to be wife as she approached him down the aisle. He took in her bright smile as she walked beside Hotch and then his eyes roamed down her body, over the lace and the silk and white of the material.

"Eyes up boy," Rossi alerted Derek to snap him out his trance as Penelope got closer.

Grinning like a naughty school boy, Derek's eyes averted back to Penelope's and he saw just how happy she was in that instance. He put his hand out for her to take and the moment she took his, he knew that within the hour she was going to be swapping last names and becoming Mrs Penelope Morgan.

As they took their steps towards the priest he leaned in, "You look beautiful." He told her and watched her smile impishly, and the blush burst across her cheeks. He went to speak again but was interrupted.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today," He heard but he couldn't stop looking at Penelope and soon got lost in the ceremony and from the look he was getting from Penelope he knew she had done exactly the same thing.

It didn't even matter when they both broke the connection to say their vows or say 'I Do', it was the actual fact that they were both getting what they had both longed for, for too long.

They were finally openly in love with their soul mate, their best friend, their own solace and now they were sealing the deal. They were now marrying their one true love and neither had felt so complete about it.

However, as the ceremony came to a close and Derek got to kiss his bride, he realised everything was going faster than he ever dreamt possible. One moment she was walking towards him, then she was next to him stealing his vision. Then he was kissing her, for much longer than he thought possible and now he was walking into their reception, taking Penelope to her rightful place.

Sitting at the head of the table, Penelope laughed as Derek joked around continually with her, kissing her neck heatedly, whispering their plans for later that night and what he was going to do to her on their honeymoon when it was just the pair of them alone.

"Can we get the bride and groom up on the floor for their first dance," The DJ cut in all of a sudden and the entire room's attention focused on Derek and Penelope. Everyone looking at Penelope's guilty expression and Derek's cheeky, seductive grin as they sat alone.

Shrugging, Derek was half prepared for this, "C'mon, Baby Girl," Derek said as he stood up and put his hand out, "Let's dance Mrs Morgan."

Penelope giggled, not quite sure how'd she ever get use to hearing that. "Let's go husband of mine," she chimed back and let him take her to the now empty dance floor.

Derek readied to dance this perfectly before smiling cheekily, "I changed the song."

"You did what?" She asked him somewhat aghast.

"I wanted a surprise for you," Derek told her, "Our song will come on later, but I want you to understand just how made we are for one another."

Penelope didn't doubt Derek for any moment of time; she just smiled and let the music begin to play out through the speaker. The moment it started she knew what song it was. It was one she had played over and over again telling Derek that everyone world she felt explained just what she felt when she looked at him.

"I don't know why you didn't pick this song, Baby, but I couldn't let this moment pass without telling you that I agree that this song really speaks what I feel whenever I look at you." Derek said as he laced his arm around her waist and pulled her close as her arms came to circle around his neck.

"It really is perfect," She admitted and kissed him as they swayed together.

_If I ain't got nothing  
>I got you<br>If I ain't got something (I don't give a damn)  
>Cause I got it with you<br>I don't know much about algebra (but I know)  
>One plus one equals two<br>And it's me and you  
>That's all we'll have when the world is through (cause baby)<em>

_We ain't got nothing without love  
>Darling you got enough for the both of us (so come on baby)<em>

Penelope looked up at her husband and she still saw her happily ever after. It hadn't faded or dulled. Derek still looked at her like he had that very first day and he still gave her a look that just swallowed her whole and trapped her in perfection. From just that look alone she knew she was truly loved by a man and that he had no other intentions to stray away from her.

Kevin never looked at her, even as he tried to grovel, he still didn't look at her like she was the epitome of his life. That without her he ceased to exist, that his heart skipped a beat from just feeling her close. That she healed him when she held him. That her kisses were the ones he wanted to receive for the rest of his life.

Derek, however, did. She believed, wholeheartedly, that she was Derek Morgan's one true love.

_Make love to me  
>When my days look low<br>Pull me in close and don't let me go  
>Make love to me<br>So when the world's at war  
>That our love will heal us all (right now baby)<em>

Derek didn't really take in much of the room around him and Penelope. At this moment, having his wife in his arms made him believe his whole world was in his arms and safe. He had everything to live for and nothing to regret. He went after the girl of his dreams and months later she was his wife and he couldn't think of anything better than to have this moment just play on loop forever more.

He had seen Kevin just before Penelope had walked the aisle, and just as the pair of them had taken their place on the dance floor, he had seen the one man that had threatened to have stopped this from happening linger by the door to the hall they were in.

He still felt like Kevin had gotten away lightly with what he had done to Penelope's life and he had waited a long time for a moment to serve Kevin a healthy dose of revenge.

Right now, with Penelope's head on his chest, he knew that revenge was happening unintentionally. He loved Penelope and he wasn't going to stop showing that because someone's feelings might get hurt as a result.

Not if it was going to be Kevin Lynch's. He needed to understand what a broken heart felt after all.

_Hey, I don't know much about guns but I  
>I've been shot by you (hey)<br>And I don't know when I'm gonna die but I hope  
>That I'm gonna die by you (hey)<br>And I don't know much about fighting but I  
>I know I will fight for you (hey)<br>And just when I ball up my fists I realize  
>I'm laying right next to you baby<em>

As she felt Derek's grip tighten some around her, she knew that he was here for a long time and Kevin's words were empty lifeless threats that he thought he could use to make her question the man she loved.

She was stuck in Arizona believing that going home was the wrong move. That was until Derek came and saved her. He made her release everything she had spent months building up and hiding from and within hours she knew what she wanted and that was Derek. It always had been and she knew, right at that moment, that nothing was going to change that.

_We ain't got nothing but love  
>And darling you got enough for the both of us <em>

As the song drew to a close, Penelope looked up at Derek and put her hand to the side of his face, bringing him down a little so that she could kiss him. She had no worries or inhibitions about who was watching her. This was her and Derek's day and all she was feeling was the utmost love for the man that had wanted her to be his wife.

Both seemed to want to prove to the room all over again how in love they were with another.

That and the man that stood now acknowledging what he had let slip through his hands after letting his insecurities rule him.

Penelope was now always going to be Derek Morgan's and she was always going to be Kevin Lynch's best thing he never had.

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**The End!**

**-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Best Thing I Never Had -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-**

**Song: **Beyoncé – 1+1


End file.
